New (for me) Mondial T Coupe

Just wanted to share the fact that an '89 Mondial T coupe followed me home and now lives in my garage. I have been lurking through many threads on this site to help me make my decision before acquiring it, as well as PMing some of you with further questions. The T is replacing an '88 BMW M5 which came out on the short end of a meeting with an SUV whose driver was on her cell phone and appears to have lost situational awareness of the road. I'll miss the M5 as it was many things I'm not expecting the T to be: easy to maintain, very utilitarian and quite unassuming. However, I wanted something different and am looking forward to getting to know my first Fcar.

I'll post some pics at some point soon and I'm sure to be back with questions in the course of learning what I've got but, in the meantime, I wanted to thank everyone for their help and interest.

 

Thanks, folks. It's an '89, black with tan interior, s/n 0081861 with 21,831 miles. I'll make it my daily driver for decent weather.

 

Good idea on the black rubber protective molding. I'll check it out. I had thought about getting some magnetic strips that I could just stick on when I parked so I'll start at a local auto store. This car will be a frequent driver and, while I won't go out of my way to stick it in crowded parking spots, I will have to park it and leave it once in a while. In black, it's not so obvious as an Fcar so I'm hoping it won't attract unwanted attention. By the way, it did come with the spare. I like the 348 wheels but the car came with new Pirelli 7000s on it so I probably will leave well enough alone for now. I have the original tool kit, minus one wrench unless it was found before it was shipped to me, and the owner's manual and records. The car sat for periods of time in its life but was well worked over by a good Ferrari mechanic. The floormats are not original but most everything else on the car, as far as I can determine, is OEM. The rebuilt transmission and new clutch present some real stiff shifting, and no second gear, before the car is fully warmed up but I'm expecting that to improve with mileage. Getting into first when just starting out sometimes requires going into reverse and then straight back to first.

So far, I have really enjoyed the driving and encountered only a few other problems: The door key broke and I only had one. I'll call the nearest dealer to see if they can make one from the key number or I may spot weld the key and see if a copy can be made from it.

The driver side turn indicator is flashing fast, in a way that I take to mean one of the bulbs is inop but both front and back appear to be blinking. I'll take them out of their lenses to see if there is a broken filament and they have just defaulted to the parking light filament.

The fan for the heater (that time of year in NJ) seems to run only in an "off" or a "full on" position, despite the fact that the knob looks to be a rheostat which should provide variable speeds.

The State of NJ requires a license plate on the front of the car. I can rig one for inspection but what have others done? I may choose not to keep it on for regular driving since there really is no place for it.

Finally, I may be attempting to have the only off-road Fcar I have heard about. I have to leave the asphalt and take a short dirt road to get to my place. There is the odd bottoming-out sound as I drive in but I'm learning how to avoid the high spots. That's not something wrong with the car, just something I will have to cope with. I left my camera in the office so I'll catch up with pics this week.

 

I appreciate all the well wishes and, after driving the car for a while now, can see why you are all enthusiastic. I finally took a few pictures, posted here. Note the car's new home (read that "dusty" dirt lane) and what appear to be non-OEM carpets. Now that I've dusted off the camera, I'll take some more pictures shortly.

There are those of you who might find my door key replacement story amusing. I only had one door key and managed to break it off in the lock on about the second day I had the car. In looking around for a replacement, I got right into the Fcar experience, seeing prices of $50-70 for a replacement blank. I didn't order one of those because I couldn't determine whether my key was exactly like any of them (and had some trepidation about paying that much for a key blank). Instead, I went to a local locksmith (Italian, of course) who took one look at my broken key and pronounced it from a Yugo! He was able to copy two new keys for me from the broken pieces. They work fine and the total cost, plus tax, was $6.25. I hope I'm as lucky on future work.
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I discussed the linkage stiffness with the mechanic who did the work, and he felt it would take about 1,000 miles to loosen up after the transmission re-build, particularly for the first to second shift. The car only has 300 miles on it since he did it so I'll give it a while longer. I also want to keep a list of anything else that should be looked at before I bring it to anyone so I can do everything at once. This car is turning out to be my daily driver so I won't want to give it up to the shop needlessly.

Daniel pointed me in the direction of the correct door key blank but I couldn't match my key to the blank so, for now, I'm a Yugo! As far as the ignition key is concerned, mine looks OEM and I will want to duplicate it so another trip to his web site is in order.

I've fixed the turn indicator. I couldn't get the front lens off to check that bulb so I got at the rear bulbs through the trunk. One bulb had a corroded contact which was easily cleaned up with steel wool. Now it works. I'll go back through them all and put some Stabilant or other connection grease on them to keep this from happening again.

 

I'm beginning to understand why the members on this list are so passionate about their cars! I've been driving mine just to work for the most part, which is not far away, and the car only seems to warm up just as I get there so it hasn't had a real test until recently. I was finally able to take a longer ride on the highway and had a blast! Shifting is precise and smooth when warmed up. Even though I was trying to stay with traffic, I couldn't resist pushing the car a little to get a sense of its maneuverability. The biggest problem with pushing the car at this time of year in New Jersey, apart from traffic ticket concerns, is a kamikaze deer trying to cross the highway at the wrong time. Not so much of a problem during the day, though. Visibility is superb all around. The car fits like a glove and it is pleasantly agile in overtaking and changing lanes. I really appreciate the smaller steering wheel (compared to what I was used to) and tight steering response. I'll keep using the car as my daily driver until the weather deteriorates here and look forward to any chance to drive it now. It fast became Junior's favorite, although I still have to get the appropriate booster seat for him, which I've seen in other threads here.

The only issue I have has so far is failure to pass the NJ emission test. I will have it in to Classic Coach shortly to fix that and have them reinspect it. With winter approaching, I'm beginning to think of things that should/could be done to the car. I'll also post some more pictures. Thanks again to all who helped point me in this direction!